Nigeria, May 4 -- Former Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, said President Bola Tinubu asked him to withdraw from the race for the Cross River North senatorial seat, a directive he described as painful but one he would obey.

Mr Ayade disclosed this in a statement on Monday through his verified Facebook handle, saying the president's position followed a "high-level national consultation" for which he was invited to Abuja.

"From the sequence of events that followed my return, Mr President wants me to withhold my Senate ambition. I yield to his request even as I pour tears of ill-treatment and agony," the former governor said.

He, however, suggested that the president may not have been fully briefed on local political dynamics in Cros...